Brahmani bridge delay: Now, cat out of bag
The BJD may be basking in the euphoria of Bijepur poll victory, but the ruling party is put on the dock over the delay in construction of Brahmani bridge as the forest land diversion proposal for about 125 km stretch of the NH 143 between Biramitrapur and Barkot hopped between tables of the Forest and Environment department, Odisha for nearly 30 months. Now when the proposal is under process with the Odisha
Government for onward submission to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF), Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram allegation attributing the delay to Naveen Government has been vindicated. The cat is out of the bag and no one else but the Government of Odisha is held responsible for the hurdle in construction of the 2nd Brahmani bridge. Whether the delay is deliberate to blame the Central Government is the moot question now. Suspicion is raised because the proposal was finally accepted by the Nodal Officer (Additional Principal Conservator of Forest Odisha) on January 1, 2016 but the Rourkela DFO, with certain observations in February, 2016, set aside the previous enumeration of trees and insisted on fresh tree enumeration and pillar posting which was completed in June 2017. The file was sent to the Rourkela-based Regional Chief Conservator of Forest (RCCF) in August, 2017. This being the fact-sheet on status of forest land diversion proposal, the BJD’s alleged attempt to discredit the BJP and escape with backdoor gimmicks has come in for discussion in the public domain. This will remain as a classic example of political rivalry at public cost.
BJP’s new formula to woo youths
Counter BJP on every front if you want to cross the 2019 hurdle with flying colors. This seems to have been the ‘mantra’ for the think tank of the BJD which is confronting its arch bête noire BJP with matching intelligence. The BJP is no doubt an intelligent party and now with money power it has become more smart and intelligent enough. Young Turk Dharmendra Pradhan is pumping money into the State through one project or the other to balance the energy level of the party. Now it is the skill development factor which is going to arm the youths of the State with required knowhow so that they fend for themselves. The skill development campus inaugurated recently by the President of India Ramnath Kovind is a fresh threat to the BJD which apprehends that the BJP will walk away with a major chunk of youths and bereft of the youth power BJD will be nowhere in 2019. Skill Development Institute (SDI) will fulfill a major need for imparting multiple skills and churning out a workforce ready for the industry. It will be interesting to watch as to who wins the race – the skilled youth force or those being pampered with allowance to work for the party in power. As far as election is concerned, the pampered group may walk away with honours for the time being because skilled force churned out of the huge cauldron of technology will be time consuming.
Hope of Odisha Cong’s revival shattered
Non -replacement of OPCC president is further destabilizing the faction-ridden Congress in Odisha. The hope to get a new look under a dynamic leader soon after the shameless defeat in Bijepur by-poll seems to have been shattered as the AICC has no plan for Odisha with the revival process nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile, some senior leaders of the party have lost their AICC membership allegedly at the behest of the party president Prasad Harichandan. The present condition has left the grand old party in lurch and gasp for breath till the next general election. A state of frustration prevailing all around, some leaders are murmuring to quit the party and join the national alliance likely to emerge now after the fallout of the UP and Bihar lok Sabha by-poll. The dissidents are even ready for a new outfit under a strong leader. If the statement of Dharmendra Pradhan after being elected to Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh is to be believed, then the BJD has a tacit understanding with the Congress to retain power in the State. “The BJD had come to power in Odisha on an anti-Congress platform by forging an alliance with the BJP but the regional outfit has now veered round to take support from the Congress to retain power,” Pradhan said. The Congress’s popularity in Odisha has reached an all time low. The future of the befuddled party is further endangered by the inaction of the new party high command Rahul Gandhi.
RSP, RMC pollution in R’kela sets off row
On the reported mass floating of dead fish on river Brahmani downstream allegedly due to discharge of contaminated water from the Rourkela Steel Plant and the sewerage water of the Rourkela Municipal Corporation, the Regional Officer (RO) of the Odisha State Pollution Control Board has written to the authorities for taking immediate action so that such incidents are not repeated in future. Scientist Rashmi Rekha Pradhan paid a spot visit last month and collected water samples from different points of the river to verify the water quality and ascertain the cause of contamination which led to death of a large quantity of fish and other amphibians. The RSP affluent is discharged by a lagoon through Guradi Nallaha and waste water generated from the Rourkela Municipal Corporation is discharged to river Brahmani at Tarkera. The Fishery Department has been requested for further investigation along with experts from research institution to pin down the actual cause. The RSP was advised to construct a water settling pond at Sitalpada to block any accidental water discharge. The pond comprises two settling chambers to prevent immediate discharge of phenol-contained water into the river. Though the work is in progress and will be ready by another fortnight or so, the OSPCB’s suggestion to construct two additional barrages upstream river Koel without submerging private land seems to have lost priority and on this score, the Rourkela Steel Plant authorities are on the back foot.